Among recent actions by the U.S. Supreme Court, a four-sentence order may set the stage for the court to eventually address the collision between free speech and religious freedom on one hand and gay rights on the other. The order voided a judgment by the state of Oregon that had imposed a $135,000 fine on Portland-area bakery owners—the Kleins—for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. Oregon maintained that its anti-discrimination law condemned such a rebuff even when the bakery owners’ religious convictions run counter to participating in a same-sex wedding.
Posted in Religious Liberty, Sexuality
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Tagged Arlene Flowers, Barronelle Stutzman, compelled speech doctrine, Employment Division v. Smith, Free Exercise clause, Jack Phillips, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Melissa and Aaron Klein, Oregon, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, SCOTUS, Sherbert v. Verner, The Sherbert test, W. Va. State Board of Education v. Barnett, Washington Supreme Court
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I would love to hear Melissa and Aaron Klein’s answer if some “LGBTQIAAP” activist or intrepid, “unbiased” journalist asked, “How would the legalization of gay marriage affect you?”
Oh wait, no one can hear their answer because Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian has ordered them to “cease and desist” from publicly discussing how it’s affected them.
